More Reportshttp://www.uspirg.org/media/usp/trouble-toyland-2012%20to%20read%20the%20survey%20report%20and%20a%20summary%20of%202012/rss.xml
enHighway Boondoggleshttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/highway-boondoggles
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<p>Even though the Driving Boom is now over, state and federal governments continue to pour vast sums of money into the construction of new highways and expansion of old ones – at the expense of urgent needs such as road and bridge repairs, improvements in public transportation and other transportation priorities. Eleven proposed highway projects across the country – slated to cost at least $13 billion – exemplify the need for a fresh approach to transportation spending.</p>
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Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:56:55 +0000phineas35716 at http://www.uspirg.orgFighting Big Money, Empowering Peoplehttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/fighting-big-money-empowering-people
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<p>Like every generation before us, Americans are coming together to preserve a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people. American democracy is premised on the consent of the governed, and on the idea that we all deserve a say in the government decisions that affect our families. We stand united supporting commonsense protections that recognize the people as the ultimate check on the corrosive influence of money in politics, which is eroding the very foundation of self-government.</p>
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Thu, 23 Jul 2015 14:01:12 +0000tmccann42351 at http://www.uspirg.orgMortgages and Mortgage Complaintshttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/mortgages-and-mortgage-complaints
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<p>Our sixth report analyzing complaints in the CFPB's Public Consumer Complaint Database evaluates mortgage complaints, the number one source of complaints to the CFPB, totaling 38% of nearly 500,000 complaints posted since 2011.</p>
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Tue, 14 Jul 2015 13:45:49 +0000edm42186 at http://www.uspirg.orgWho Pays For Roads?http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/who-pays-roads
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<p>Many Americans believe that drivers pay the full cost of the roads they use through gas taxes and other user fees. That has never been true, and it is less true now than at any other point in modern times. Today, general taxes paid byall tax- payers cover nearly as much of the cost of building and maintaining highways as the gas tax and other fees paid by drivers.</p>
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Thu, 30 Apr 2015 16:23:34 +0000jolivieri@pirg.org40706 at http://www.uspirg.orgPicking Up The Tab 2015: Small Businesses Pay the Price for Offshore Tax Havenshttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/picking-tab-2015-small-businesses-pay-price-offshore-tax-havens
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<p class="MsoNormal">Every year, corporations and wealthy individuals use complicated gimmicks to shift U.S. earnings to subsidiaries in offshore tax havens – countries with minimal or no taxes – in order to reduce their federal and state income tax liabilities by billions of dollars. While tax haven abusers benefit from America’s markets, public infrastructure, educated workforce, security and rule of law – all supported in one way or another by tax dollars – they continue to avoid paying for these benefits.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Small business owners are hit twice by the effects of tax dodging by large multinational corporations. Since they almost never have the kind of subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands or armies of tax lawyers and accountants to exploit tax haven loopholes that their multinational rivals do, small businesses are routinely placed at a competitive disadvantage in the market place. In addition, small businesses, like average taxpayers, end up picking up the tab for offshore tax avoidance in the form of higher taxes, cuts to public services, or increases to the federal debt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This study examines the potential impact of corporate tax dodging on America’s small businesses.</p>
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Mon, 13 Apr 2015 20:45:51 +0000jwoo39961 at http://www.uspirg.orgFollowing the Money 2015http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/following-money-2015
Tue, 10 Mar 2015 14:30:31 +0000mfitzpatrick39361 at http://www.uspirg.orgThe Innovative Transportation Indexhttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usf/innovative-transportation-index
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<p>This report reviews the availability of 11 technology-enabled transportation services – including online ridesourcing, carsharing, ridesharing, taxi hailing, static and real-time transit information, multi-modal apps, and virtual transit ticketing – in 70 U.S. cities. It finds that residents of 19 cities, with a combined population of nearly 28 million people, have access to eight or more of these services, with other cities catching up rapidly.</p>
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Thu, 29 Jan 2015 08:18:50 +0000james38252 at http://www.uspirg.orgThe Money Chasehttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/money-chase
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<p>Five years after the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision, what are the roles of large donors and average voters in selecting and supporting candidates for Congress? This report examines the role of money in the 2014 congressional elections from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, and demonstrates how matching small political contributions with limited public funds can change the campaign landscape for grassroots candidates.</p>
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Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:19:02 +0000mrusso38036 at http://www.uspirg.orgTrouble in Toyland 2014http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usf/trouble-toyland-2014
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<p>Among the toys surveyed this year, we found numerous choking hazards and five toys with concentrations of toxics exceeding federal standards. In addition to reporting on potentially hazardous products found in stores in 2014, this installment of the report describes the potential hazards in toys and children’s products.</p>
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Mon, 01 Dec 2014 14:28:56 +0000james37696 at http://www.uspirg.orgThe Dominance of Big Money in the 2014 Congressional Electionshttp://www.uspirg.org/reports/usf/dominance-big-money-2014-congressional-elections
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<p>In 2014, large donors accounted for the vast majority of all individual federal election contributions this cycle, just as they have in previous elections. Seven of every 10 individual contribution dollars to the federal candidates, parties, PACs and Super PACs that were active in the 2013-2014 election cycle came from donors who gave $200 or more. Candidates alone got 84 percent of their individual contributions from large donors.</p>
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Thu, 20 Nov 2014 15:19:58 +0000james37376 at http://www.uspirg.org